Any ideas for smelly house?!

PancakeP

Bought house a few months ago which had been previously let out to a couple with a dog who liked to "water" the carpets. House has carpets throughout, which have been professionally cleaned, as per the tenants' contract requirements they had to meet before they left, and laminate flooring in hall & kitchen. House is in the process of being decorated, albeit very slowly due to my personal circumstances. I wasn't planning on changing the carpets until next year, when I hope to have finished all the upgrading works. But it has a bit of a whiff about it!! Strangely though, it doesn't smell of dog or urine, it is an odd smell, that I presume is probably a bit of a muddle of dog and various cleaning products used to clean it up/mask the smell.

Any suggestions as to how to get old smells out of carpets? Or is the only way forward to chuck them in a skip and live without them until I can afford to buy new?

zaax

Had a similar problem. Had to replace all the carpets; some floor boards; skirting; and it still smells some times; might have to replace some of the wall plaster where they peed up against it.

scottishblondie

I've been told that white vinegar is excellent for removing the urine smell from carpets. But the smell could well be coming from the underlay or the floorboards themselves, in which case no amount of cleaning the carpet will help!

anotherbaldrick

would have been better telling previous owner not to clean carpets but negotiate a reduction in price to cover new carpets and underlay.

-taff

Try sprinkling in bicarb of soda and brushing in, then hoover....

robatwork

I can't believe anyone would keep carpets from a property that had been previously rented out. Anything could be in them...

Repair by replacement - you can't clean carpet properly, end of.

MX5huggy

Get rid of the carpet tommrow. Your wasting any effort trying to clean them.

PS found the fleas yet?

browneyedbazzi

Get rid of the carpets and underlay then scrub the floorboards with sodium bicarb and white vinegar (sprinkle bicarb on a bit of the board, pour on a bit of vinegar so it starts to foam up then scrub with a brush). If you put knew carpet on top of the floorboards without treating them the new carpet will stink before too long.

Get some knee pads or a cushion to kneel on, you'll be there a while!

keystone

^^ Wot he said and the underlay too!

Cheers

browneyedbazzi

keystone wrote: »

^^ Wot he said and the underlay too!

Cheers

I'm a she!

Also, I forgot to add, once you've scrubbed the heck out of the floorboards and they've thoroughly dried out it would be worth re-sealing them to trap in any residual smell.

keystone

No not you the post above you.

Cheers